Many medical procedures require puncturing of the skin, and sometimes underlying tissues, of an animal or human subject. For example, a sharp lancet tip is commonly used to puncture the subject's skin at a lancing site to obtain a sample of blood, interstitial fluid or other body fluid, as for example in blood glucose monitoring by diabetics and in blood typing and screening applications.
In some instances, a person must periodically sample their blood for multiple testing throughout the day or week. Thus, due to the nature of micro-sampling for blood glucose monitoring, many individuals requiring regular monitoring prefer to do so discretely. Current multi-use micro-sampling devices tend to have a large, pen-like form that restricts the ability of the individual user to conduct micro-sampling discretely. Some have attempted to miniaturize the micro-sampling device, but the device still has a large and indiscrete size.
Thus it can be seen that needs exist for improvements to lancing devices to provide a micro-sampling device having a small and discrete size. Needs further exist for such a mechanism that has a smaller overall profile while remaining compatible with standard lancets commonly available. In addition, needs exist for combining drive elements for control of the lancet travel and return that provide for a wide, yet far shorter, overall shape.